Recently, one of our long-standing clients agreed to update to the newer version of our time and billing software. Prior to installation we conversed about what the new version included.  The client wanted assurances that the newer version “will function in basically the same way”. After twenty years in the software business, I understand the valid concern regarding software updates. Experience has shown that buggy or ill-conceived updates have the potential to wreak havoc on daily operations.

The Inmates are Running the Asylum

The Inmates Are Running the Asylum, published in 1999, uses the author’s experiences in corporate America to illustrate how talented people continuously design bad software-based products and why we need technology to work the way average people think. I often wonder how talented computer programmers can write good application software for particular industries without direct work experience. Software products should provide users an experience based on their perception of how software should serve their business needs.

As a result, many accounting firms are reluctant to change fearing lost time and profits that could result when new software fails to implement properly. To that end, many CPA and accounting firms still use spreadsheets or old “DOS” based programs to perform important time and billing software functions. Others use Quickbooks® to track and bill time. Although these products attempt to accomplish the needed result, the process used is not the most efficient or effective. Consequently, it often costs your firm extra time and effort as well as reduced billings.

Effective Time and Billing Software

Effective time and billing involves multiple tables linked in a relational database. Spreadsheets are one-dimensional whereas relational databases implement a one-to-many relationship. For example, work code descriptions need not be redundantly stored within each time slip – instead a link to the work code record is saved in the time slip record. This saves time, space and improves data management. All these features are ‘under the hood’ and not necessarily revealed directly to the user.

Does the Software Shoe Still Fit?

Older “DOS” and Windows-based databases such as “Unilink Dos” implemented database relationships and were great programs when first released. By today’s standards, however, these programs are obsolete relics and limit your firm’s ability to compete. First generation time and billing products lack the horsepower to generate sophisticated performance reports and are unable to provide sufficient historical information to generate reports for prior periods. Required period closings limit what can be viewed from prior periods and errors or mistakes oftentimes often cannot be reversed.

Quickbooks® is a great accounting product that can track time, but lacks the ability to generate detailed work in progress reports that itemize and summarize the value of your unbilled inventory.  You never know the total value of your work in progress in relation to revenue or billed receivables – a significant asset to overlook!  Historical realization reports are also unavailable.

Please review the snippet of a comprehensive work in progress report in the following graphic:

When CPAs are Comfortable with Current Practices

CPAs and accountants have a reputation for being slow adopters when it comes to change and technology. To paraphrase a 2011 article on change by Julie Rains, Senior Writer – Freelance, Killer Aces Media – there are five reasons not to embrace change:

1. Productivity will plummet and stress will skyrocket. The simplicity of day-to-day tasks is comforting. We take comfort in following a self-developed decision tree with a limited number of variables.
2. Embracing change means admitting past mistakes– admitting that past procedures caused errors or less than optimum results opens the way for improvement and better practices.
3. Failures are not occasions for learning – navigating change is like falling into an abyss rather than interpreting clues on a hidden-treasure map. In other words, learn from our mistakes. Don’t expect different results from repeating the same procedures.
4. Difficult problems arise from change– the side effects of change may involve handling situations that we do not fully understand.
5. Unwillingness to risk status among colleagues and employees….how long can we stay relevant by preserving the status quo?

Julie Rains suggests that in order to successfully embrace change we must establish a new performance metric when change occurs. “Emphasize the need for continual renewal, not as an indictment of the past, but as a strategy for ongoing success”.  When making a change we must “identify known negatives that will likely surface as byproducts of change. Next, we must anticipate the best practices for dealing with these situations”.

The 1973 Texas Instruments Calculator

As a former practicing accountant of 25 years, I frequently experienced great resistance to change among my colleagues. During my apprenticeship at J.K. Lasser & Company in Miami, the audit staff would request lengthy amortization schedules from the IT department mainframe in order to analyze notes payable during the course of an audit.  I recall being ridiculed for using a Texas Instruments calculator to verify note balances with a few button presses.

In college, I learned formulas for determining present values and level payment amounts which I carried in my wallet. I was able to use them with this “fantastic” new device.  The calculator determined the present value of future payment streams at any given interest rate – no amortization schedule required!  The results displayed on the screen in bright red. Later, a small tape printout allowed the attachment of the results to our work papers. Today, we use Microsoft Excel to do these calculations and print out the spreadsheet.

In Conclusion – “If it Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It”?

At  Mango, we speak to many firms that currently use spreadsheets, older “DOS” programs or QuickBooks® and are looking for a better solution…as long as it doesn’t involve too much change.  These calls usually occur when the program has crashed and owners are desperate. It’s best to change before things reach this point. Your firm should reach a consensus about your future goals and move forward discarding the relics of the past. You can teach an old dog new tricks!

The post Accounting Time and Billing Software: Is Your Firm Afraid of Change? appeared first on Mango Practice Management.

Welcome to Part 2 of our two-part series, “

Does the Software Have Good Reviews? 

There’s a reason word-of-mouth is one of the most powerful marketing techniques in existence. Friends, family members, and business partners don’t have any stakes in the game, and don’t want to risk harming you with bad advice. Therefore, when looking for accounting time entry tools, ask for the advice of other accounting professionals you know, and look online for testimonials, product reviews, and awards in industry-respected publications. Bad reviews can sometimes be just as useful as good ones: they can demonstrate whether the company responds professionally to criticism; if it responds quickly; and most importantly, if it is willing or able to change in response to feedback. 

Is There Reliable Customer Support?

This is the biggest must-have for a time & billing software. No matter how easy or intuitive a product is, there will always be clients who struggle with the client portal, or employees who need a bit more help than others. A company with strong, reliable customer support can provide assistance to these stakeholders so that you can devote yourself fully to running your practice. A good accounting software company will hire friendly, knowledgeable representatives who know the tool like the back of their hand, and who can be reached by phone, email, live chat, and more. Finally, the company should be able to serve as a complete resource for all your time and billing needs, via blog articles, webinars, video tutorials, and more. 

Is it Updated Frequently? 

Stagnant, unchanging software is not a good sign. Any growing, thriving company should be able to adapt to the needs of consumers, and that goes triple for software companies. If the software itself has not changed in the past twenty years—or even in the last couple of years—that’s a good indication that the company leadership’s focus is not in the right place. The product is the number one thing you will be using on a daily basis, so it has to be modern, and more importantly, stay modern as the years go on. To find out what recent changes a company has made to its software, search the internet for press releases and similar updates. If it’s still not clear, you can always just ask! 

Is it Updated Too Frequently? 

There is a flip side to this that we should mention, however—there is such a thing as software that is updated so frequently that it’s actually annoying. If a software company comes out with six new versions in a month, forcing your entire team to re-learn something they had finally gotten down, it might be more hassle than it’s worth. 

Do I Like Using the Time & Billing Software?

In the end, this is the most important aspect of choosing new accounting deadline management software. Do you, the practitioner, actually like using it? Is it intuitively organized, aesthetically pleasing, actually kind of fun to use? If you don’t like it, you won’t use it. It’s as simple as that. 

For that reason, it’s imperative to take any software you’re considering for a test drive. Nearly all companies offer a free demo you can access, or even a free 30-day trial with no strings attached. If neither is being offered, then, in the words of Arianna Grande, “thank you, next.”  

The post Questions to Ask When Choosing CPA Time & Billing Software – Part 2  appeared first on Mango Practice Management.

Poor Santa. He has to supervise the acquisition, production and distribution of toys for almost 2 billion children across the world—about 27% of the human population—within a one-year time frame. Just that task alone would be an incredible challenge, but then there’s also wishlist reception and Naughty/Nice placement, both of which must have their own bustling divisions within Santaland. In the spirit of the season, we thought we’d take a look at some ways our time and billing software for accountants could also help St. Nick and his crew meet their year-end deadline. Here’s an imaginative look at how time and billing software could make life easier for humans

Improved Time Entry 

Time tracking allows employers everywhere to identify the highest performers, set reasonable deadlines, and avoid bottlenecks. We have no doubt that time entry software could help Santa identify and reward the most productive Elves, while more meticulous workers could be devoted to tasks that are less time-sensitive. Time entry software could also be used to clock time spent on packaging and wrapping; time spend sleigh loading; and so on. Knowing how much time each task takes would help Santa stay on schedule without any last-minute panic!

Improved Project Management

Meeting a deadline on such a massive scale probably involves extensive project management. We’re betting that the North Pole employs hundreds of Project Management elves, solely responsible for tracking Resource elves’ to-do lists and sending out deadline reminders. Our CPA time and billing software could be an invaluable project management tool for these elves. Instead of having to schedule face-to-face project update meetings, resources could simply check off tasks as they are finished. Instead of having to manually remind team members of upcoming deadlines, the software could automatically send out due date reminders, streamlining communication and amping up productivity.  

Safer Recordkeeping 

If Santa is still keeping important records in a filing cabinet, we can’t begin to imagine the things that could happen to it in such a busy, rapid-paced environment. A flood of Molasses could ruin everything in the office; a vengeful reindeer could purposefully trample them; a well-meaning office elf could mistake them for clutter and dump them in an incinerator. Time and billing software would help Santa avoid all these scenarios by saving all information digitally in a secure, encrypted server. No matter what happened to Santa’s physical location, the data would remain safe and secure in the Cloud.  

Ring in the New Year with ImagineTime’s Time & Billing Software! 

Of course, we are using this blog post to have a little fun. (Who says accounting software companies can’t have a little fun once in a while?) But on a more serious note, if you haven’t considered introducing time and billing software to your practice, now is a perfect time to do so. As we enter a new decade, we enter an era where clients expect a mostly-digital experience, and a practice that doesn’t provide one is viewed as out-of-touch and, therefore, ignorant of a modern company’s needs. As the saying goes, “out with the old, in with the new.” Choose 2020 to ditch your paper files, written ledgers, stopwatches, long email chains, and unnecessary project update meetings—and step into the future with ImagineTime!

If you would like to request a demo to view our software in action, simply fill out our easy form, and one of our representatives will contact you as soon as possible. Last but not least, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

The post Could Santa Benefit from Our Time and Billing Software? We Think So! appeared first on Mango Practice Management.

In our

Poor Cash Collection 

This is a problem we typically observe in new accounting firms, or small accounting firms which grow very quickly. New accounting firm owners often do not realize that very few businesses pay promptly. They assume that mailing out monthly bills is an adequate invoice collection process, which is unfortunately rarely the case. Time and billing software for CPAs can help alleviate this process by automatically sending invoices out to clients, as well as gentle payment reminders. Some time and billing tools, like Mango, also allow you to add a “Pay now” button to your email invoice, a handy feature which makes clients much more likely to submit payment. 

Lack of Investment in Modern Technology

In the past few years, technology has completely transformed the accounting game. No longer must CPAs spend long days hunched over at their desks, scratching away at piles of ledgers. Modern accounting software has become crucial to ensuring a firm’s success—and we don’t just mean that it makes the job easier (although it does). We also mean that clients now expect accounting firms to be technologically proficient. Firms that do not use high-quality due date monitoring software and invoicing software do not give clients the customer experience they expect, in which case they may look elsewhere for accounting services.  

Failure to Invest in High-Production Team Members 

Even accountants, who deal in numbers and figures, are not immune to hiring, promoting, or retaining team members who are the most likeable, rather than those who provide the greatest value to the business. However, bear in mind that the team you put together can make or break your firm, and hiring a poor performer based on personality could wind up costing you significantly in the long run. 

Don’t get us wrong—we’re not suggesting you hire someone rude, irritable, or difficult to work with just because they have a high production output. To do so might actually lower your long-term profitability, as your other employees (and clients) might become frustrated and decide to exit the relationship. What we are saying, however, is that you should weigh every decision carefully using both qualitative and quantitative data. The latter is where CPA time and billing software comes in handy: employee reporting software lets you know which are your highest performers, and which ones tend to fall short when it comes to meeting firm benchmarks. Knowing this data can help you make fully-informed, well-rounded decisions.  

Kick Off a Year of Success with Mango! 

Accountants are in the business of finding and fixing mistakes—but we are humans, and all humans will make mistakes at some time or other. The good news is that Mango’s time and billing software for accountants helps to minimize those errors, reducing internal stress and keeping your clients happy. If you would like to view our due date monitoring software in action, simply fill out our easy form to request a free demo. One of our representatives will contact you as soon as possible!

The post Even More Accounting Firm Mistakes that Can Be Avoided with Due Date Monitoring Software appeared first on Mango Practice Management.

Accountants are in the business of finding and fixing mistakes—but we are humans, and all humans will make mistakes at some time or other. The good news is that many tools have been developed to help accounting practices minimize errors, reduce internal stress and keep their clients happy. Below are the top 3 mistakes accounting firms make which can easily be prevented by due date monitoring software for CPAs. 

Manual Data Entry Mistakes

Some of the most common accounting mistakes are simple “typos”— keys that were accidentally pressed incorrectly. Indeed, manual accounting is so tedious and time-consuming that data entry mistakes are practically unavoidable. Even though data entry mistakes only take one careless second to make, they can have huge ramifications for your business. If a customer is charged the wrong amount for a transaction, or the wrong customer is charged, fixing the mistake is embarrassing and time-consuming at best, and could cost you a client at worst.

 For all these reasons, due date monitoring software for accountants is a great security measure. CPA due date monitoring software tracks time entries digitally, reducing the chance for employee error. It then automatically converts time entries into invoices, again with no manual data processing required. This simple automation helps eliminate stress and worry, and frees you and your employees from the tedium of plugging in numbers! 

Ignorance of Financial Status 

It’s important for business owners to always be aware of the financial health of their businesses. And although you would think that accountants do a better job of this than most, the phrase “the chef always eats last” applies strongly here. That is to say, CPAs are often so busy helping their clients stay abreast of their finances that they neglect their own accounts. Due date monitoring software for accountants helps make things easier by compiling profitability reports that compares your expenses with your profits. You can use reporting and analytics software to analyze your firm’s biggest challenges and opportunities, and use what you learn to make informed, data-driven decisions.

Loss of Financial Records 

Accountants know better than anyone why it’s important to always save financial records in a secure location. (On the off-chance that you’re not an accountant, allow us to elaborate: it’s because the IRS can audit your return for up to three years from your filing date, and if it suspects you’ve underreported your gross income by 25% or more, it has up to six years to challenge your return). That’s why it’s incredible (to us, at least) that so many accounting firms still rely on paper spreadsheets and filing cabinets to store crucial client information. You don’t need us to tell you that if a manual form is misplaced, burned, ruined in a flood, or destroyed by a vengeful intern, then that document is lost forever, and the folks at the IRS are typically not very understanding. 

The good news is that due date management software for accountants prevents all these scenarios from happening by saving all uploaded information in a secure, encrypted server. No matter what happens to your office or your computer hardware, the data you entered will be safe and secure until someone with appropriate access credentials removes it. Cloud-based storage solutions can store an unlimited amount of data for months or years on end. 

Decrease Stress and Boost Your Profits with Mango’s Due Date Management Software for CPAs

Mango’s simple, intuitive tax due date calendar was designed by accountants, for accountants to make a tough job as easy as possible. Mango and our client portal for CPAs, Mango, can keep track of multiyear deadlines, payments, extensions, and filings; record time entries and convert them into invoices; and give users a host of other features and benefits. If you would like to request a demo to view our due date monitoring software in action, simply fill out our easy form, and one of our representatives will contact you as soon as possible!  

The post Top 3 Accounting Firms Mistakes that Can Be Mitigated with CPA Due Date Monitoring Software appeared first on Mango Practice Management.

securing their clients’ data. According to the KPMG 2022 Fraud Outlook, 83% of companies in the Americas were impacted by a cyber attack in the last 12 months. More alarmingly, the same report found that 55% of businesses suffered losses due to a regulatory fine or compliance breach in the same period.  

If you have any remote workers on your staff or use online software (this includes something as simple as email), it’s more critical than ever for accountants, attorneys, and other services professionals to make sure their client data is as secure and protected as possible. Otherwise, you may encounter some of the following consequences.

Legal Fees

If your clients’ private financial data is compromised, you will have to prove to a court that it is not due to your firm’s negligence. Whether or not this is true, the legal fees could pile up as you attempt to prove your case. If you are found to be guilty (which, if you are exchanging sensitive data through email, could be the case) you’ll incur fines, as well.  

When going through the legal process, you won’t just have to pay legal fees. You also have to consider the lost billable hours. Because you’ll have to spend time building your court case, you can lose valuable time that could have otherwise been spent working on your clients’ needs.

Fines

If you have not used a secure client portal or other security measures to protect your client data, you could be found to be in violation of your firm’s duty of care, putting you at risk for fines. While we can’t predict the actual amount, we know that courts have become more and more severe with penalties in recent years.   

For instance, Equifax lost the financial information of more than 150 million people because the Apache Struts framework was unpatched in a database, forcing a settlement with the FTC of $575-700 million. More recently, T-Mobile had to pay $350 million in settlements due to a data breach that impacted 77 million people in 2021.   

While your fines may not be as high as these conglomerates, they could be high enough to force you to lay off some employees or even put your firm out of business. Reduce your risk of potential privacy-related fines by implementing secure sharing systems into your workflows now. 

Reputation Damage

Your firm’s reputation is your greatest sales asset. When it’s damaged, it can be difficult or impossible to restore.  

By reputation damage, we don’t just mean embarrassment (though that’s certainly a part of it). More importantly, when your firm’s reputation is damaged, you lose revenue—a lot of it. Your current clients may no longer trust you and decide to take their business elsewhere. And potential clients trying to choose a new firm may choose an alternative option.   

Don’t underestimate how quickly you can experience reputational damage. The power of social media means that unhappy clients can leave reviews and comments on your social media pages and share them with their friends.

Theft of Finances  

Accounting firms and law firms are among the most popular targets for hackers for a good reason: they’re rife with sensitive client information, like billing data.   

However, some hacks aren’t after your client information—they’re after you. Though it isn’t the most likely scenario, it’s always possible that a cybersecurity breach will deplete your bank account. Even though this would get you off the hook regarding client litigation, it could still mean the end of your firm (or at least a significant setback).  

Damaged Shareholder and Investor Relations

If your accounting firm is beholden to investors and shareholders, security breaches could put them on edge. Once a data security breach occurs, it’s usually followed by a precipitous drop in the company’s perceived value. Negative press can fuel a “sell now” groupthink, which then escalates—much like an old-fashioned bank run. This is especially true for smaller companies that don’t have the corporate infrastructure or brand recognition to keep things afloat in the wake of an attack.  

Investors and shareholders want their money to be safe with a company they feel they can trust. When that trust is lost, reversing the damage can be very difficult. 

How to Protect Your Client Data

The good news is that there are plenty of software systems available that are easy to use and keep your client’s data secure. If you’re frequently sharing sensitive documents and client information, consider file-sharing and eSignature software.  

Client portal 

To avoid the consequences listed above, it’s crucial to invest in practice management software that can keep your data safe and secure. A client portal provides a single, secure place for clients to share information, receive updates, and engage with your team. All your clients have to do is sign in to their portal to look at past invoices, pay outstanding ones, and even sign documents in just a few clicks.   

The only issue that can come up with client portals is that clients have to remember a password. This may be an issue for some clients, which is why you should also offer secure file-sharing options.  

Secure file-sharing and eSignature 

Secure file-sharing works similarly to client portals, but no passwords are required. Instead, it offers end-to-end encryption, sharing files and links through a connected email account. For added security, you can include other security features like expiring access deadlines, so the client—and any potential bad actors—can only access the document for an allotted time period.

Your Accounting Firm Needs Secure File-Sharing and One-Click eSignatures

Accounting firms small and large are not invincible from hackers. Get peace of mind with Mango’s secure client portals, file-sharing and electronic signatures tools.

Schedule Demo

The post Top Consequences of a Security Breach | Client Portal for Accountants appeared first on Mango Practice Management.

However, there are many advantages that spreadsheet programs just don’t provide to modern firms. In fact, spreadsheets have so many disadvantages that using them could put your firm at risk for mistakes, inefficiency, and even litigation. Below are just a few reasons why we recommend switching from spreadsheets to more modern practice management software.

Poor Organization

Simply put, spreadsheets are clumsy. In order to organize them, the user has to build his or her own file hierarchy. It’s hard to share data between different sheets, and even tougher to get the spreadsheet to integrate with data stored in other applications. For instance, imagine that you want to send a sale offer to every customer who has spent more than $100 at your store in the last month. Spreadsheet programs are too clumsy to execute that task efficiently.

Questionable Accuracy

Most popular spreadsheet programs require the user to enter formulas and equations. While some of these formulas are pretty basic, others are incredibly difficult to apply correctly. If you get a formula wrong, the spreadsheet program can’t tell you what the problem is, and you are forced to stop your workflow in order to diagnose the problem. More time is spent trying to get the software to work than actually studying the results the software provides, identifying opportunities for improvement, and implementing them. In fact, the spreadsheet may not even tell you that there is a problem at all. It will just do the calculation you told it to do, and it could be months before you realize you have a problem.

Limited Storage & Security

Many business owners who use spreadsheets for accounting save the data directly to their computers. This is an extremely outdated and dangerous breach of security, and it creates multiple problems for you and your firm. Firstly, if the computer is ruined in an accident or natural disaster (hey, it happens), all the essential data will be lost, and the work will have to be redone. More importantly, though, if someone steals the computer or hacks into it, all of your clients’ financial details will be in unknown hands—and your firm will be subject to fines, lawsuits, or another type of consequence.

Lack of Other Features

A spreadsheet can crunch numbers and keep track of data, but that’s all it does. It doesn’t integrate with your calendar of client meetings and appointments; it doesn’t help you manage your firm’s due dates and deadlines; it doesn’t generate invoices or reports; and it doesn’t allow you to delegate tasks to different members of your team. Modern practice management software offers a full, comprehensive practice management solution that addresses all the problems and challenges an accounting firm faces. A simple spreadsheet just doesn’t compare.

Lack of User Friendliness

The folks who designed spreadsheet programs are among the minority who find them intuitive and easy to use. True, you might know how to make basic manipulations to cells in Excel, but most normal people struggle with formatting and formulating more complex commands. Even if you’re pretty savvy with spreadsheets, there will come a day when you need to translate a business calculation into a spreadsheet formula, and won’t be able to figure it out on your own. You’ll spend hours searching for the answer online, wasting valuable time that could be spent on client. Modern practice management tools don’t require users to take a class just to be able to use it.

Forget Spreadsheets—Get Mango’s Practice Management Software!

If you’re still relying on paper or Excel-based systems to bill your clients, you’re playing on “hard mode” when you don’t need to be! Mango’s practice management software was designed to make accountants’ lives easier. To learn more about our workflow solutions, click here.

The post Practice Management Tips: Why Using Spreadsheets Puts Your Firm at Risk appeared first on Mango Practice Management.